ALLIGATORS IN A HELICOPTER

a pro script reader ponders movies, reading, writing and the occasional personal flashback

Tuesday, August 28, 2007

10,002

Yeah, I crossed the barrier yesterday. My 10,000th piece of paid coverage.

I once thought that when I hit 10,000 I'd stop, and jump off a cliff or something. Fortunately I forgot I was getting close, and by the time I realized I'd hit the magic number, I'd done two more. So I guess I'll have to keep going until 20,000.

Sadly, the 10,000th script was a bit too symptomatic of the mediocrity I too often read. An attempt at a comedy, without enough originality or humor.

Its title?

"Whale Farts".

I kid you not. Can't make this stuff up.

Man, I need to sell a script.

Yesterday did the screenwriting thing for at least an hour for the 15th consecutive day. I always thought that if I had a chance to really write fulltime, I'd be prolific as hell. But I'm learning that I don't need to write for 8 hours a day; an hour or two a day, every single day, and the pages pile up.

Beats farting whales.

23 Comments:

At 8:08 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Congrats on making it to 10,000. That's an accomplishment in and of itself.

Have you seen this year's Scriptapalooza winner? Yup.

 
At 8:40 AM, Blogger Scott the Reader said...

Yeesh, you're right. Whale Farts won Scriptapalooza. $10,000 for the two guys who wrote it.

Just goes to show that any script can win any contest. Because though it isn't an awful script, it really isn't a particularly solid one.

 
At 9:27 AM, Blogger Christian H. said...

Let me guess it's the outrageous story of an overweight man who lives next to the beach.

 
At 9:28 AM, Blogger Christian H. said...

Oh and congrats on the milestone. I'm almost finished a comedy so there will be no rest for the weary.

 
At 10:19 AM, Blogger Fun Joel said...

Congrats on the milestone. I can't even imagine...

 
At 11:19 AM, Blogger Christina said...

Wow. That's a lot of coverage.

I was going to point out that the script won Scriptapalooza, but someone already did... Whale Farts, eh? I read some really atrocious stories while at reading for a fiction mag. Imagine being faced with a short story called "I.Q. of the Heart." Now that made me want to run off a cliff.

 
At 12:15 PM, Blogger The Lazy Bear said...

Apparently everyone already noticed that "Whale Farts" won Scriptapalooza. Wow.
Congrats(?) on making it to 10,000.

 
At 2:21 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Thank you for not jumping off a cliff, despite the obvious provocation with which you were faced at this historic moment. :)

 
At 3:01 PM, Blogger Jon F. Merz said...

I'd rather congratulate you on selling a script, but congrats on the 10k mark. Just started reading this blog and have been enjoying it. Someone mentioned your name on the Artful Writer forum and I'm glad they did.

"Whale Farts," huh?

Wow.

 
At 4:42 PM, Blogger IQCrash said...

Does this mean I should stop work on my latest spec, DOLPHIN DYSENTERY?

I hate parallel development.

Congratulations on 10k, Scott.

 
At 6:19 PM, Blogger E.C. Henry said...

"Whale Farts" isn't a commplete loss. At least the title makes one chuckle.

And keep on truckin' bro. Hopefully next month, October at the latest, I'll have the action/adventure screenplay I'm working on ready for you to disect. Plenty more stories in me. I'll help ya get to 20,000 - just remain open for buisness!

Also, glad to hear you're doing well on the writing front. Keep it up, but don't neglect the naming of your works of art. "Whale Farts": the bar has been set!

- E.C. Henry from Bonney Lake, WA

 
At 6:48 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Congrats,

TT

 
At 7:05 PM, Blogger Chesher Cat said...

I will congratulate you on the 10,000, but if you make it to 20,000 I will personally push you off the cliff.

:)

 
At 8:04 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

10,000 scripts at $60 a pop means you must earn a decent living providing coverage?

TT

 
At 8:57 PM, Blogger Scott the Reader said...

Well, it took me 16-odd years to read that many.

Though it wasn't all scripts; there are a couple thousand books in there, which pay more.

 
At 10:09 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I calculated it on 20 years, so on 16 years it ain't a bad income stream...

TT

 
At 10:10 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

And even better if it is tax free?

TT

 
At 8:31 AM, Blogger Scott the Reader said...

Ha. I wish.

 
At 8:59 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

gratis!

hang in there. I wish i could write for 15 consecutive days....

 
At 9:18 AM, Blogger Tom said...

Saw the logline for 'Whale Farts' on another site, looks like 'Arthur' meets 'One Crazy Summer' meets 'Orca'.

Is that how it read?

 
At 7:26 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

oh, the joys of flatulent mammals (bad scripts I mean, not the whales)and congratula-shuns...one day your own script will come across your desk, you'll be at page 22 and only then realize the deja vu factor of having read it before

 
At 12:21 AM, Blogger Dave Olden said...

"10,000?! We could almost buy our own ship for that! We don't have to sit here and listen to th---"

Congrats, Scott.

Dave O

 
At 6:56 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Uhhh...

Scott, I'm confused, is this actually good news?

I need to know before I congratulate you.

 

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